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VIDEO

THE CORPORATE MISSION OF DANONE DE MEXICO - "PROVIDE HEALTH THROUGH FOOD, TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE", IS EFFECTIVELY REALIZED IN THE CITY OF IRAPUATO, WHERE THE ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH MULTINATIONAL HAS MARKED A MAJOR TURNING POINT, BY OFFERING HIGH-QUALITY DAIRY PRODUCTS TO FEED MEXICANS AND HAS CONTRIBUTED GREATLY TO SPREADING THE CULTURE OF CONSUMPTION OF YOGURT, A DELICIOUS AND HEALTHY PRODUCT. TODAY THE DANONE IRAPUATO PLANT IS ONE OF THE FRENCH AGRICULTURAL FOOD GROUP'S MOST MODERN PRODUCTION FACILITIES WORLDWIDE, WITH EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH OPERATIONAL AND QUALITY STANDARDS. THE MEXICAN COMPANY HAS ACHIEVED THESE FANTASTIC RESULTS THANKS TO THE TALENT OF ITS HUMAN RESOURCES, THE UTMOST SAFETY AND QUALITY MEASURES APPLIED TO ALL OF ITS INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES, THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF MORE HEALTHY AND WHOLESOME FOOD PRODUCTS, AND THE USE OF THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES TO ENSURE THE EFFICIENCY AND COMPETITIVENESS OF THE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.

SECTOR: FOODDANONE DE MEXICO SA DE CVIrapuato, Mexico www.grupodanone.com.mx

3 SK 500 T Packers

Conveyor belts

the city of

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Everything that surrounds the city of Irapuato has the taste and colour of strawberries: from fresh fruit jam, and the excellent "strawberry glazes" that can be tasted in many varieties: from the traditional sugar crystal version to those with chili sauce or chocolate. In the local language the name Irapuato means "where the hill meets the plain", and signifies a good place for agriculture, today the main economic activity of the city. The city in fact, is the greatest producer of strawberries, broccoli, carrots and avocados in all Mexico, and many other

vast stretch of strawberry crops that, viewed from a distance, appear like red brush strokes: there is no better

way of describing the city of Irapuato, in the state of Guanajuato in Mexico, where the hill meets the plain (this is the meaning of Irapuato in the local language) and where it is impossible to resist a plate of fresh strawberries served with cream ... or the tasty strawberry-based products manufactured by Danone de Mexico, with one of the largest production facilities in the country situated here.

A fruits and vegetables also grow abundantly in this fertile ground. No matter how many strawberries are actually produced in Irapuato, the name of this city is now so closely linked to this fruit that its people will always be affectionately known as "Freseros" or "Strawberry Heads". Compared to other Mexican cities, at half a million inhabitants Irapuato is a relatively small urban settlement, yet one that is charming and possesses unparalleled beauty, is rich in history, culture and has monuments, temples, churches and squares of great architectural value.

WHERE THE HILL MEETS THE PLAIN

How did all this

come to be?? To answer that, we must take a step back into the past, or more precisely to the 1700s, the death of Charles II of Spain, and the ascent to the throne of Philip V, grandson of the King of France. It is said that, to find out what

interested the Spaniards, the new king decided to organize several expeditions to Chile, from where, the first strawberry plants were brought to France. It then took nearly two centuries for the strawberries to get from Europe to Mexico, where from 1849 onwards, the strawberry plant cultivation in Irapuato took hold rapidly and became the main economic activity of the city. The exceptional quality of Irapuato strawberries have gained them,

an undisputed reputation both nationally and internationally. Infact, the Mexican city is home to the large "World Strawberry Capital"

festival, one of the main events of the "Si Sabe" food festival of the state of Guanajuato, which hosts 27 stands of

handmade gourmet products among its main attractions.

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DANONE DE MÉXICO S.A. DE C.V.

he Danone Group has for a long time been active, in promoting the importance of a correct diet as the key factor,

in developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In particular, Danone de Mexico is especially attentive to all activities that promote correct hydration and nutrition habits, by promoting a series of initiatives that educate Mexicans to perform physical activity, drink plain water several times a day, avoid habits

T that are harmful to the human body and, in general, to adopt a healthy lifestyle. An example of this, is the "Danone 2020" Manifesto, through which the French multinational company has globally adopted a revolutionary approach to address health-conscious topics starting with food. It also promotes a healthy and genuine food culture not only through the sale of its products but also by encouraging healthy habits among its 100,000 employees.

The goals of the "Danone 2020” Manifesto are also strongly promoted by Danone de Mexico in four key areas:

• My health: periodic monitoring of the weight and habits of Danone employees, in addition to teaching how to eat healthily, stay hydrated and perform physical exercise.

• One yogurt every day: a campaign that encourages staff to eat yogurt daily, adhering to Mexico's official food and nutrition guidelines.

• DIY healthy hydration: promoting a healthy lifestyle that begins with proper and healthy hydration.

• Eating functional foods: foods that have beneficial properties for the health thanks to their content of minerals, vitamins, dietary fibre and other compounds.

THE IRAPUATO FACILITY IS THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD BY PRODUCTION VOLUME

Year founded: 1995

Production facility: Irapuato, Guanajuato

Production volumes: 420 million tons per year

Production lines: 20 bottling/packaging lines that supply Mexico and Central America

Product line: Activia®, Benegastro®, Danette®, Danfrut®, Danonino®, Danone®, DanUp®, Dany®, Oikos Vitalínea®

no. 1 of the Danone Group

the largest in the world by production volume

the 3rd safest worldwide

1st in quality management

produces up to 750 products per minute

has an average monthly production of 30,000 tons of yogurt

HEALTH IS ONE WITH FOOD

THE IRAPUATO FACILITY

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solid, well-established company in France for over 50 years, Danone arrived in Mexico in 1995, giving a

strong boost to the local supply of dairy products and greater selection to the food choices of the Mexicans.The Danone de Mexico facility is located in the industrial city of Irapuato, in the State of Guanajuato, and produces over 119 different products: Activia®, Danette®, Danone®, Danonino®, DanUp®, Dany® and Vitalínea®. Due to the production volume and the quality standards achieved, the plant in Irapuato is considered the most important Danone Group facility worldwide and is one of the largest and most modern companies in the world. In addition to efficiently

A managing as many as 20 production lines, the staff of the Mexican plant is also dedicated to intensive research and development activities, in order to continuously improve and expand the range of Danone products distributed in Mexico and other countries of Central America. Directly across from the factory in Irapuato, is the company's Regional Distribution Centre (RDC), which contains the largest cold stores in Latin America. It ensures that products are stored within a defined temperature range, in order to maintain their quality and properties until they are distributed on the market.

Paris. Looking for a name for the label, Isaac Carasso immediately thought of "Danón", an affectionate nickname used for his son Daniel, but the authorities refused to register it as it was a proper name; to get around the problem, he added an "e" at the end and the Danone brand was born. Daniel Carasso studied at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Marseille and later performed bacteriological studies to increase his knowledge of cultures. These studies proved very useful when, not yet twenty years old, he decided to launch the Danone products in France and on 6 February 1929 registered the Société Parisienne du Yoghourt, a company with a capital of FRF 500,000 and Daniel Carasso as sole director. Thereafter, the Danone company underwent a long series of expansions, transformations and mergers, which led to its becoming

To alleviate the suffering of children who suffered from intestinal disorders in the years following the First World War, in 1919, the Spanish merchant Isaac Carasso founded a small factory in Barcelona to produce yogurt using cultures from the Pasteur Institute in

DANONE'S REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

one of the largest and most dynamic multinational groups in the global food industry. With a global turnover of € 22 billion in 2015, the Danone Group is present on five continents, has more than 180 manufacturing facilities and employs about 100,000 people. Danone's "mission" is to bring health through food, to as many people as possible; its business activity is based on four lines: fresh milk products (Dairy Division), baby food (Early Life Nutrition), bottled water (Waters Division) and medical nutrition (Medical Division). The French multinational manufactures and markets products under the brandnames Danone® Activia®, Evian®, Volvic®, Aqua®, Gallia®, Actimel®, Nutricia®, Bledina®, Cow & Gate®, Fortimel®, Taillefine®, Vitalinea®, Ser®, FortiCare®, Infatrini® and many others.

The Irapuato Regional Distribution Centre is at the heart of Danone's distribution network in Mexico and Central America. It is a modern facility that spans over 10,000 m² in which all the products that come off the 20 packaging lines of the nearby production facility are stored, before being distributed throughout Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. The RDC has been operating since December 2010 and was formally inaugurated in March 2011. In addition to the latest technological solutions, the success of this logistics facility is also made possible by a workforce operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

A SUCCESS STORY FROM FRANCE TO MEXICO

Stores 150 Danone Group products

Handles an annual merchandise volume of more than 40,000 tons

Before shipping, products are stored for no less than 24 hours and up to 5 days (depending on demand)

Storage capacity of 7,600 pallets distributed in 6 reception platforms (pallets from production facilities) and 27 loading platforms (pallets for distribution)

Daily transport by more than 115 lorries

Innovative water management system that allows the reuse of 2.5 million litres of water per year

The RDC won the "Galardón TAMEME" National Logistics Award in 2012 and 2014

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he Danone bottling plant in Irapuato contains a total of eight SMI automatic

packers for secondary packaging in different pack configurations. The collaboration between SMI and the Mexican company started in 2009 with the installation of an LSK 35P shrinkwrapping machine that packages different types of containers in various pack configurations at speeds of up to 35 packs/minute. The latest supply includes three SK 500T shrinkwrappers for use on the production lines of the drinkable yogurt of the DanUp® Activia® and Danone® brands. SMI has also supplied the bottling and packaging facilities of other companies of the Danone Group in Mexico for many years.

SMI SOLUTIONSFOR DANONE DE MEXICO

THE IRAPUATO PRODUCTION FACILITY PRODUCESTHE EQUIVALENT OF 7 EUROPEAN DANONE FACTORIES!

T

3 SK 500T PACKERS

Containers packaged: 170 g and 250 g HDPE bottles of DanUp®, Activia® and Danone® drinkable yogurt.

Pack collations made: two SK 500T packers package 250 g HDPE bottles in 7x4 film-only, tray + film and tray-only bundles, while the third machine places 250 g bottles in 7x4 tray + film bundles and 170 g bottles in 6x4 and 2x2 film-only bundles (the latter format is produced on three lanes simultaneously).

Advantages: SMI SK series shrinkwrappers are the ideal solution to package the 250 g and 170 g HDPE bottles for Danone de Mexico at up to 30,000 bottles/hour.The SK series packers are equipped with numerous technological innovations that allow the packaging process to run smoothly and efficiently; for example, a special loose container sorter mounted on the machine's infeed belt automatically controls the incoming product flow, so as to optimize the production cycle. The HDPE bottles packaged in various pack configurations have a "sleeve" label, so the feed belt of the shrink-wrapper has a sophisticated control system that, when necessary, can empty the tunnel of the "sleever machine".

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hether for breakfast or as a snack, or even as a light dessert after a meal, yogurt is a versatile food and one of the most valuable foods for the health and well-being of the entire body.

Scientific research describes yogurt as extraordinary food, one with many beneficial properties, and a daily ally able to meet all of one's food needs in a healthy and natural way. These properties are also attested to, by important research on the subject, including that of the "Yogurt Nutrition Initiative (YINI)" project initiated by Danone Institute International in collaboration with the American Society for Nutrition and the International Osteoporosis Foundation. This study has thoroughly investigated the role that yogurt plays in human nutrition at all ages, collecting the results of the study in a book called "I, Yogurt: from Food to Health" with the aim of increasing awareness of the beneficial properties of this tasty and healthy food.

Yogurt history and trivia

The functional food par excellence is breast milk, but the plant world also provides us with many natural functional foods, all with specific and beneficial properties: tomatoes, grapes, coffee, tea, cocoa and vegetable oils to mention only the most widespread. After mother's milk the most important functional food for all age groups is definitely yogurt, the use of which is attested to in many ancient documents, including the Bible. In fact, in Genesis we are told that Abraham offered the Lord, cakes, veal, fresh milk and sour milk. More recently, in an essay from 1799, a traveller describes the curdled milk which the Greeks call "ghiogurt", while another document from 1890 tells how the Turks used to consume a sour milk called "lugurth" in the summertime. But the modern history of yogurt only began in 1882, when the Russian biologist Elia Metchnikoff (Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1908), studying the life and

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH DESCRIBES YOGURT AS AN EXTRAORDINARY FOOD, ONE WITH MANY BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES, AND A DAILY ALLY ABLE TO MEET ALL OF ONE'S FOOD NEEDS IN A HEALTHY AND NATURAL WAY

W

habits of shepherds in the Caucasus, concluded that their habitual fermented milk consumption was closely linked to their unusual (for those times) longevity and good health. Of course, it is not enough simply to eat yogurt, even a lot of it, to live up to 100 years, but Elia Metchnikoff has the distinction of having shown the beneficial effect of fermented milk on the entire body, particularly on the intestine. Any kind of milk may be used to produce yogurt; even soy milk, which is totally vegetable in origin, can be fermented with success. Nowadays, yogurt is produced mostly in large industrial facilities using selected microbial cultures. Sweet yogurts, which often contain added sugar or other sweeteners, fruit and/or other ingredients, have great market success.

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exico is now one of the most interesting markets for the food packaging industry, thanks to 115 million consumers who are buying more and more food

and drinks and a booming food industry of global importance. The data in a recent Agency report, for foreign promotion and internationalization of Italian companies (ICE), indicates that the Mexican food sector represents an annual production of 10 million tons for the packaging and bottling industry, has a turnover of over USD 11 billion and that imports of machinery for use in this area amount to USD 500 million per year.

MFOOD PACKAGINGIN MEXICO

DRINKABLE YOGURT:A YOUNG PRODUCT FOR

A YOUNG MARKETt is estimated that about half of the Mexican population, nearly 60 million people, is younger than 28 years old.

Thus there are an increasing number of food companies, engaged in trying to meet the needs of this population, focusing on products popular with young people, such as yogurt, especially in the drinkable form. Thanks to greater disposable income, in recent years this form of yogurt has seen a real "boom" in consumption among young people, who are increasingly making it a

I part of their diet. The strong growth in demand for this food product, has given rise to a series of new investments by all companies in the sector, with the aim of winning an ever greater market share by introducing new tastes, containers and types of packaging.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ARTICLE WAS GATHERED BY SMI AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE LATEST RESULTS OF DANONE GROUP